NPP presented genuine copy of Togolese register to EC - Official

A special adviser to the Togolese main opposition leader, Jean-Pierre Fabre, has debunked claims by the governing National Democratic Congress that copies of the Togolese voters’ register presented to the Electoral Commission by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was fake.

According to Masseme Esse, there is no way the document could be fake because the Togolese electoral commission gave parties in that country the electoral roll there - a copy of which the New Patriotic Party’s vice presidential candidate presented to the EC.

Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show, ‘Dwaso Nsem’, Masseme Esse said he finds it baffling that the EC and the governing National Democratic Congress would say the documents presented by Dr Bawumia are fake.

“The register put out by the NPP is the same register given to our party, it is the exact copy and it shows all the detail in our register. All political parties were given copies of the register before the exhibition and that is the same register we used for our analysis before the elections.

“The concerns we raised about the register was what prompted the Ghana President to meet the political parties and the EC to solve the issues. So I am surprised that anyone is saying they are fake,” he added.

Dr Bawumia first presented his evidence at a press conference

In August last year, Dr Bawumia and the NPP at a forum to drum home calls for the creation of a new voters' register, said the party had, after an investigation found, matches of 76,000 Togolese names on Ghana’s electoral roll.

Dr. Bawumia said, the team set out to compare Ghana’s voters’ register with neighbouring countries and the results were startlingly alarming.

With copies of the Togolese voters’ register and that of Ghana, the team used biometric facial recognition technology which found potential matches.

The party later presented copies of the Togolese register in its possession to the EC for further investigations. But the EC claimed that its partner in Togo refused to give it a copy of its register because it was a security document.

The governing NDC, however, claims that the document presented by the NPP to back its argument for a new register was not authentic.

Johnson Asiedu Nketia
General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Aseidu Nketia at a press conference Wednesday, called for the arrest of Dr Bawumia.

He accused the renowned economist of fabricating documents to back the NPP's claims that the current electoral roll is bloated and must be changed.

He said the country's laws must be activated to punish the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Bawumia.

However, Massame Esse says the NDC’s argument is flawed. He said there is no doubt that there are certain people – in Ghana and Togo – who vote in both countries.

“The issue is not new to many people in Togo, many are aware that when it comes to elections, people are taken from Togo to vote in Ghana."

He said it was essential for political parties from both countries to put in place measures to ensure that the situation is dealt with.

“It does not come as a surprise to us. But it brings back the issue of stopping this since some people are also taken from Ghana to vote in Togo, “he said.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]